1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to textured floor boards, and more particularly to a machine for texturing floor boards. The textured floor boards include but are not limited to floor boards with a wear surface that comprises natural wood, such as plain or solid wooden floor boards or floor boards comprising a wooden top layer, preferably a hard wooden top layer, glued on top of a core. Some example embodiments are applicable to floor boards without a natural wooden top layer. Here, the texture can be applied to a core material, such as to a core comprising particle board, MDF (medium density fiberboard), HDF (high density fiberboard), or synthetic materials.
2. Description of Related Art
Floor boards may be textured (e.g., scraped, distressed, routed, burned and/or gouged) to add richness and uniqueness to the exposed, major surface and/or to create antique looks on fresh floor boards. The texturing process may be performed by hand, by machine or by a combination of the two. Although conventional texturing techniques and machines are generally thought to provide acceptable results, they are not without shortcomings.
For example, hand-texturing may create a unique floor board surface. But hand-textured floors tend to differ in the amount and pattern of texture added. Hand-texturing results also tend to vary based on the skill of the artisan, the condition of the floor board and the condition and selection of texturing tools. The lack of control and expertise may lead to disastrous results. Even in those instances in which the results are satisfactory, hand-texturing is labor intense and tends to increase the cost of the floor covering.
Conventional machine-texturing, which is typically intended to provide a hand-made look, may provide reduced labor costs. However, conventional machine-texturing may result in pattern repetition and/or unacceptable variations in the appearance of the floor covering. For example, conventional machine-texturing can result in either a repeating pattern that is observable across an individual floor board and/or across a floor covering including substantially identical floor boards. Conventional machine texturing of floor boards with various dimensions in an economic way is not straightforward.